July Figures Show Unemployment Hits A 16-Year Low

President Donald Trump, who promised to be America’s jobs president, celebrated a report Friday that indicated he is making good on his promise.

The Department of Labor reported that 209,000 jobs were added in July, slightly more than Wall Street economists’ expectations. July’s unemployment rate fell to a 16-year-low of 4.3 percent, down from the rate of 4.4 percent recorded for June.

“The recovery is now strong and long enough to lift many of the people hurt most by the recession,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed, a labor-market research firm.

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Trump hailed the report and his efforts to revive the economy in a series of tweets.

Excellent Jobs Numbers just released – and I have only just begun. Many job stifling regulations continue to fall. Movement back to USA!

Initial unemployment claims were near a 40-year low, according to the report. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas said announced layoffs hit a 19-month low.

In announcing the report, Labor Secretary Andrew Acosta said that since Trump took office, the unemployment rate has dropped 0.5 percentage points and more than one million jobs have been created since January.

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“Since President Trump took office, the unemployment rate has hit a 16-year low. This month’s jobs report reflects the steady economic growth and continued optimism felt by businesses across the United States. American companies are growing and they are hiring. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are now taking home a paycheck,” Acosta said.

“This is a Goldilocks report for the markets,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “It really bodes well for macro-economic growth.”

“This was a dull report in a good way,” said Eric Winograd, a senior economist at AllianceBernstein. “I don’t think that there’s any doubt that the labor market is performing very well, and today’s jobs report is another piece of evidence.”

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The report indicated that although wages overall were not rising fast, those at the low end of the wage spectrum are outpacing wage gains at upper-income jobs.

“We’re starting to see a lot more jobs being posted that don’t require a college degree,” said Cathy Barrera, the chief economic adviser at ZipRecruiter. “That’s very good news.”